Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a position indicator (stylus) for use with a position detection sensor.
Description of Related Art
As a position inputting apparatus configured from a position detection sensor and a position indicator called electronic pen, various position inputting apparatuses of various schemes such as, for example, an electromagnetic coupling scheme and a capacitive coupling scheme are available depending upon a difference in coupling scheme between the position detection sensor and the electronic pen.
Further, even for position inputting apparatuses of a same scheme, various configuration types are available depending upon a difference in an exchanging method of a position detecting signal between the position detection system and the position indicator and a method for exchanging additional information such as manipulation information of a switch provided on the position indicator, writing pressure information, identification information of the position indicator, and internal storage data or for exchanging instruction information for changing an action of the position indicator. Conventionally, a position indicator compatible with a position detection system is provided to users limitatively by a method of a specific position detecting signal and a method of exchanging additional information. Therefore, since it is necessary for a user to have position indicators for exclusive use for position inputting apparatus which include position detection systems having similar position detection sensor means, it is necessary for the user to carry a plurality of position indicators and select an appropriate position indicator for each of position inputting apparatus.
For example, as a position indicator of the capacitive coupling scheme, such a plurality of configuration types as described below are available. In particular, a position indicator of a first configuration type is a position indicator of a scheme (passive scheme) wherein the position indicator does not send out a position detecting signal but AC (Alternating Current) electric field energy sent out from a sensor circuit of the position detection system flows to the earth (ground) through the position indicator and a human body to detect a variation of energy (or a voltage) induced in a conductor of the sensor circuit of the position detection system at a position at which the position indicator exists to detect the position (refer, for example, to Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-3035)).
Meanwhile, a position indicator of a second configuration type of the capacitive coupling scheme is a position indicator of a scheme (improved type of the passive scheme) which is an improvement of the first configuration type described above, which is low in sensitivity in position detection, and which receives a signal from the sensor circuit of the position detection system, performs signal processing such as signal enhancement of the received signal and feeds back the processed signal to the sensor circuit (refer, for example, to Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent No. 4683505)). In the case of the position indicators of the first and second configuration types, additional information is transmitted or exchanged to the position detection sensor using, for example, wireless communication means.
A position indicator of a third configuration type of the capacitive coupling scheme is a position indicator of an active scheme in which, different from those of the first and second configuration types described above, the position indicator includes a sending circuit and an outgoing signal from the sending circuit is supplied as a position detecting signal to the position detection sensor (refer, for example, to Patent Document 3 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1995-295722)). The position detection system uses a sensor panel of position detection means and performs position detection of a position indicated by the position indicator from signal strengths of individual conductors by which the outgoing signal from the position indicator of the active scheme is received.
Further, position indicators of the third configuration type are further divided into a plurality of types including a configuration type in which additional information is sent to and received from the position detection system together with a position detecting signal and another configuration type in which part of the additional information is sent and received together with a position detecting signal and the remaining additional information is transmitted separately to a wireless communication means provided in the position detection system through a wireless communication means.
It is to be noted that, although a detailed description is omitted, also in the position indicator of the electromagnetic coupling scheme, a plurality of configuration types are available including a configuration type in which a signal from the sensor circuit of the position detection system is received by a resonance circuit and the received signal is fed back to the sensor circuit of the position detection system, another configuration type in which a sending circuit is provided and an outgoing signal from the sending circuit is transmitted to the sensor circuit of the position detection system through a resonance circuit, and a further configuration type in which additional information is transmitted to a wireless communication means provided in the position detection system, similarly as in the case of the capacitive coupling scheme described hereinabove.